Lady Justice vs. Rasputina

[MissE]

The boyfriend and I recently started playing (me with Lady, him with Tina) and after a fun countertop game the other night, I'm realizing that I need a little strategy help.

We played a 25 ss game, where my list was:

Lady J

Judge

Scales of Justice

Death Marshall x3

Which left me with an 8 SS pool. Awesome.

I realized almost off the bat that the Scales were basically worthless. I couldn't figure out how to comfortably incorporate it into the game, and it died pretty quickly anyway.

Because it seems like these two masters and their crews are on opposite ends of the melee/casting scale, the onus was on me to move in and make the kill, and hope that I could stay alive long enough to take her down. By the time Lady J was in charging range, she had nine wounds, and I was burning my SS cache. Is popping soulstones like candy an acceptable defense? Or should I not have been in that position?

Once I charged, I managed to take Tina down, but then died a very undignified death to a tiny ice monster...sigh.

So. I got an ugly win, and I guess what I'm looking for here is a suggestion on a good small support crew with the Lady at the helm who is going to be survivable and damaging to a casting-based team. Presumably, I need to pick up at least one of the Ortega boys and let one of the Death Marshalls go, to sort of shore up my ranged offensive situation.

Or does the problem go deeper than that...is there even a viable way to run a melee machine against a wily caster type? Or should I invest in an Ortega boxed set and bring out the guns, leaving my Lady on the sidelines?

Help, advice, assistance is appreciated, and hopefully this is the right place to put this sort of question.

Thanks all!

[bigasb]

Hi

I use for 25ss games

Lady J

Judge

3x Death Marshal

Austringer

5 Soul stone cache

The austringer can put pressure from a long distance, and you can't hide from it behind ice pillars. One little trick when Lady J is in charge range is to attack first with austringer one or twice depending on range then use it's Deliver Orders to activate Lady J to put the sword in, you can also use this to remove a Gamin in the way but it would take both attacks.

Lady J main use of soul stones for me is defence boosts and healing flips, she rarely needs them to hit or for spells.

The judge makes a good meat shield for Lady J as he moves as fast in walk actions and if he gets taken down he stills get 1 action due to slow to die.

The 3 Death Marshals work well on their own as a team, or have Lady J kill something first after using combat prowess on hopefully 2 Death Marshals, have the one you didn't cast it on use Finish the Job, and see people run away. I have made people leave objectives, rather than stay and fight using this.

Just keep playing see what works for you.

[Pipeline]

Try swapping nino in for a marshall, the totem, and a stone. Ugly win is a win. Everything is expendable as long as you get those points. And you cant use soul stones if you're dead.

[MissE]

@Big I hadn't even thought about the Austringers. I'll consult the book and check 'em out. I was definitely using the SS to keep Lady J alive, using them for mostly healing flips. I had used 6 by the time Tina took her down.

@Pipe, It's true, that a win is a win. I just felt like it was a more dumb luck, wandering in to the win as opposed to something calculated and well-thought out on my part. So maybe it's a combination of being new to gaming, and not having played a lot skirmishes yet.

I'm almost to the idea where I can accept that I'm not going to be in a situation where all my dudes are alive and all his are dead

[Pipeline]

I'm almost to the idea where I can accept that I'm not going to be in a situation where all my dudes are alive and all his are dead

spike his kool aid first :hypnotize

[Doctor Amos]

Sounds like you need more d00ds. The Guild has a wide assortment of d00ds. If you capitalize on shooting, you can go with Nino Ortega, Austingers, and/or Samael Hopkins. If you want the Guild's heavy-hitting melee character, it's the Excecutioner. Note, he's slow as all get-out. Hoffman's new toys give you the chance to get some more defensive models out there. Or, Abuella Ortega has a good mix of skills that complement many crews.

Or all of them.

[AvatarForm]

+1 Samael.

heck, pre-RP, my 'Tina only ever had difficulty with Lady J and Criid, I havent played since RP, but Im sure the balance couldnt have swung much more favourably towards 'Tina... could it?

[Doctor Amos]

Tina got some neat new toys. She's getting pretty hardcore.

That said, the Guild isn't lagging much behind. You just gotta watch for it.

...and if you get really stuck, the Freikorps do pretty much pwn0z0rz Rasp.

[darkendlight]

Sub out one or two of the death marshals for witching staplers has helped me in the past soak up some magic firepower. Just watch out for when they pop.

[Doctor Amos]

Or mix them in with the ice gamins and watch the world burn. Mwa ha ha!

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

SS for Lady J are defensive use only really. Cheat the flip if I have a good chance to win or damage prevention if I don't. If you are going to attack something that pops use then have an ss to prevent damage or dont attack it

[jasonbeauchene]

Soulstones are there to be used. It would be a sad day to lose the game with 8 Stones in your Cache, no? For Lady J, I like to use stones for damage prevention vs Spell damage and Ranged attacks. If she gets hit in melee I like to use them to get an added card-because it is awesome to flop a mask and get Reposte.

Against Raspy (who I play as frequently):

Models I might suggest:

-Stalkers can be helpful, their 6" negative flip bubble can be hard to deal with if they get close enough.

-Sammael loves shooting Rasputina-he has the bonuses for shooting high CA models.

Strategy:

-You need to play with the right amount of terrain, we usually have a lot of cover where I play. That means melee models stay in cover as best you can. Giving Raspy a negative flip to hit you means she can't cheat in a Mask for Overpower nor can she cheat in a high number to avoid using a stone. She could do a focus cast, which is what you want, as it takes up two of her Activations, rather than one.

[MissE]

Thanks, guys! You've given me a lot to think about, and in putting my next model order together, it looks like I'm going to be picking up Austrigners, Samael, and a couple of the Witchling Stalkers.

It's not that I'm completely opposed to picking up the Ortegas as individuals, but I'm definitely into the storyline and fluff. I'd hate to split up the family

I'll be back with a report on how our next game goes.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

One suggestion if you want witchling stalkers and samuel hopkins and you can afford to, buy Sonia' box set you will save money.

[MissE]

Ooh, good call, sir. Sonia would be a fun model to have around too, so no sense in not picking up the set.

[Doctor Amos]

And if you're going to get Sonnia Criid anyway, you might as well get one or two flamenwerfing Freikorp specialists.

[nix]

Using your current list you could also consider putting J in the box on turn 1. This keeps her out of harms way while the marshal holding her works his way up the board. With hard to wound, the marshal should survive a blast or two. When he finally bites it you can walk 1 more time then J jumps out and activates.

[MissE]

@Doctor...Sir, you are going to wind up costing me too much money, what with your suggestions and ideas

@Nix I had never even thought of that. I guess now that I look over the card, Pine Box isn't really a damaging spell at all, and there's no way I could accidentally mess something up and kill the Lady I'll definitely be trying that out the next time I play.

[Pipeline]

I'd hate to split up the family

your opponents will hate it even more.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Using your current list you could also consider putting J in the box on turn 1. This keeps her out of harms way while the marshal holding her works his way up the board. With hard to wound, the marshal should survive a blast or two. When he finally bites it you can walk 1 more time then J jumps out and activates.

You can have Lady J choose to fail the wp test. I like to do this with Judge and Lady J pop to nasties out together. It is weak because it slows your movement ability but it is very intimidating and is a great one trick pony.

[MissE]

Yeah, the guys I play against are pretty new to the game, and none of them plays The Guild, so I can see how using Pine Box on one of my own guys would give them a moment of pause. An interesting mental tactic, at the very least.

It does slow movement, it looks like, but I'm liking the idea of either having the Lady or the Judge fresh and ready to mess my opponent up by the time I'm in melee range with the Marshal.

[nix]

Yes, you lose movement but in my experience its not a lot of movement. I find that I tend to keep J near the rest of the crew normally, so being in the box does not lose her movement on the whole.

As for putting both J and Judge in the box, I would caution you on this move. There will be circumstances where it makes sense to do so, but I find that normally this is not a great move.

1. I rarely pull 2 crows to cast the spell twice

2. when both J and Judge are in the box the marshals are the only thing to focus on.

Marshals are very durable, but if your opponent can decide to focus on 1 or 2 then they can be taken down quick. With only J OR Judge in the box, then your opponent has a choice.

• Focus on 1 marshal to pop the model out of the box, while the other model moves up the board.
  
• Focus on the other model (who is still a threat) and let the marshal make it up the field with an intact model in the box
  

[Dirk Hardpeck]

Strategy:

-You need to play with the right amount of terrain, we usually have a lot of cover where I play. That means melee models stay in cover as best you can. Giving Raspy a negative flip to hit you means she can't cheat in a Mask for Overpower nor can she cheat in a high number to avoid using a stone. She could do a focus cast, which is what you want, as it takes up two of her Activations, rather than one.

I play 'Tina as my main crew member and in a situation like that I would simply try to hit you with splash damage from a nearby Construct as I blast it with a December's Curse with trigger. So I suggest watching out for that too. I don't speak for all people who play the Cult, but I know it is a favorite tactic of a lot of people.